Six strings, two trios, one concert at Horizon Stage

Six strings, two trios, one concert at Horizon Stage

Over nearly a decade, each trio has come together with their counterparts from the opposite sides of the border in order to put on a series of concerts across the continent for a couple of months a year.

For the musicians in the California Guitar Trio and the Montreal Guitar Trio, the past few years have been a chance to unite their play styles and cultures.

Over nearly a decade, each trio has come together with their counterparts from the opposite sides of the border in order to put on a series of concerts across the continent for a couple of months a year. Montreal’s artists go with a range of worldly music while California’s hew largely to classical.

Audiences at Horizon Stage will see them next Friday, and, according to California Guitar Trio member Paul Richards, it will be something unique.

“Joining together like we do makes for a very special show,” he said. “Audiences will hear what each group sounds like on their own first before we play the second half together and it is really fun. A greater understanding comes when we all play together.”

The two trios have been around for similar lengths of time — more than 20 years each — and first met up at a conference in Oregon for music producers. As Richards tells it, they took to each other immediately and resolved to collaborate when they could find the time and place to do so.

The concerts followed and now, a new album is on the horizon. Over the phone Monday, Montreal Guitare Trio member Marc Morin shared details of the experience. According to him, it was a very intimate and fun production.

“At our show we will be presenting our new album to be released,” Morin said. “We finally found a way to have a couple of days in the Laurentian here north of Montreal in a small Anglican church. We took our time and did the recording we wanted to do. We are really very excited about the [piece].”

Morin added it has the energy of a previous live album the two groups put out in 2011 and is not content “shaped with a scalpel” into what the group wanted it to be. It is natural and a product of their shared talents and tastes.

The album will be shared with the audience on Jan. 18. At this time, the two groups are separate, but as time goes on, they have discussed merging under one name for future projects and performances. Though nothing is guaranteed at this time, Richards thinks it is a good idea for the future.

“We have talked about it and from my standpoint creating a joint name is a good step,” he said. “I mean, we are so close after all.”

Morin echoed this in his remarks. Stating the two groups break barriers.

“We do not have to search to understand each other,” Morin said.

The Montreal Guitare Trio and The California Guitar Trio perform at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 18. Tickets are available through horizonstage.com.